Store-based board game

ABSTRACT

A store-based board game allows a player can earn tokens and move those tokens about the board to occupy as many departments of a store as possible. Tokens may move to unoccupied departments or take over occupied departments based on provided game rules. Tokens may be exchanged for medium sized tokens, which may ultimately be exchanged for a large token. Store resources are earnable by the players, where such resources can be used for various purposes, such as earning additional resources, trading with other players, or as a requirement to win the game based on a card drawn initially by each player, indicating the required resources, along with the large token, required to win the game.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

Embodiments of the invention relate generally to board games. More particularly, embodiments of the invention relate to a board game based on department store layout and a store commodity.

2. Description of Prior Art and Related Information

The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.

Many board games on the market are focused on the movement of game pieces on a board. The boards are based on a variety of topics, such as real estate, life events, fictional worlds, or the like. Many consumers enjoy visiting physical shopping stores and often have a favorite store that they and their friends may enjoy frequenting. There is, however, a lack of board games that bring the store layout and elements of the store into the game.

In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a board game that can combine a person's board game enjoyment with their favorite department store.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide a board game comprising a game board having at least one floorplan defining a plurality of departments connected by at least one of a door or a short cut; a plurality of sets of small tokens, each set distinguishable for each of a plurality of players; a plurality of sets of medium tokens, each set distinguishable for each of the plurality of players; a plurality of large tokens, at least one of each of the plurality of large tokens distinguishable for each of the plurality of players; a plurality of resource roll tokens sequentially numbered from 3 through 11; a pair of six-sided dice; a plurality of resource tokens representing a plurality of resources; and a set of cards for each of the plurality of resources.

Embodiments of the present invention further provide a board game comprising a game board having two floorplan defining a plurality of distinct departments connected by at least one of a door, a short cut or a staircase; a plurality of sets of small tokens, each set having a distinguishing color; a plurality of sets of medium tokens, each set having the distinguishing color; a plurality of large tokens, at least one of each of the plurality of large tokens having the distinguishing color; a plurality of resource roll tokens sequentially numbered from 3 through 11; a pair of six-sided dice; a multi-sided die; a plurality of resource tokens representing a plurality of resources; and a set of cards for each of the plurality of resources.

Embodiments of the present invention also provide a method for setting up a board game comprising opening a game board, the board game having a game board having two floorplan defining a plurality of distinct departments connected by at least one of a door, a short cut or a staircase, a plurality of sets of small tokens, a plurality of sets of medium tokens, a plurality of large tokens, a plurality of resource roll tokens sequentially numbered from 3 through 11, a plurality of resource tokens representing a plurality of resources, and a set of cards for each of the plurality of resources; placing one small token for each playing in a player start-designated department; placing one of the plurality of resource roll tokens in each of the departments, except the player start-designated department, of each of the two floorplans; placing one of the resource tokens in each of the departments of each of the floorplans; providing a multi-sided die for determining a starting player; and providing a pair of dice for player turn rolling.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments of the present invention are illustrated as an example and are not limited by the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references may indicate similar elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a board game, during play, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of the board game board of FIG. 1.

Unless otherwise indicated illustrations in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. The invention and its various embodiments can now be better understood by turning to the following detailed description wherein illustrated embodiments are described. It is to be expressly understood that the illustrated embodiments are set forth as examples and not by way of limitations on the invention as ultimately defined in the claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS AND BEST MODE OF INVENTION

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well as the singular forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

In describing the invention, it will be understood that a number of techniques and steps are disclosed. Each of these has individual benefit and each can also be used in conjunction with one or more, or in some cases all, of the other disclosed techniques. Accordingly, for the sake of clarity, this description will refrain from repeating every possible combination of the individual steps in an unnecessary fashion. Nevertheless, the specification and claims should be read with the understanding that such combinations are entirely within the scope of the invention and the claims.

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details.

The present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated by the figures or description below.

As is well known to those skilled in the art, many careful considerations and compromises typically must be made when designing for the optimal configuration of a commercial implementation of any product, and in particular, the embodiments of the present invention. A commercial implementation in accordance with the spirit and teachings of the present invention may be configured according to the needs of the particular application, whereby any aspect(s), feature(s), function(s), result(s), component(s), approach(es), or step(s) of the teachings related to any described embodiment of the present invention may be suitably omitted, included, adapted, mixed and matched, or improved and/or optimized by those skilled in the art, using their average skills and known techniques, to achieve the desired implementation that addresses the needs of the particular application.

Broadly, embodiments of the present invention provide a store-based board game where a player can earn tokens and move those tokens about the board to occupy as many departments of a store as possible. Tokens may move to unoccupied departments or take over occupied departments based on provided game rules. Tokens may be exchanged for medium sized tokens, which may ultimately be exchanged for a large token. Store resources are earnable by the players, where such resources can be used for various purposes, such as earning additional resources, trading with other players, or as a requirement to win the game based on a card drawn initially by each player, indicating the required resources, in addition to a predetermined number of medium tokens, that a player needs to trade up to the large token and win the game. In some embodiments, the store may be an IKEA® store and the token may be horse-shaped, provided as small horses, medium horses and large horses. The game board, as discussed in greater detail below, can include departments attached by doors and/or shortcuts. In some embodiments, the game board can include two play areas with stairs and/or vents joining the two play areas. The two play areas may represent, for example, two floors of the department store. While the Figures illustrate two play areas, only a single play area (floor) or multiple play areas (floors) may be used in the game, provided that a method for movement between the floors is provided.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a store-based board game can include a game board 10 having one or more shopping floorplans 12, 14 displayed thereupon. The floorplans 12, 14 can be divided into departments 16. Adjacent departments 16 may be connected by a door 18 or a shortcut 20. When there are two or more floorplans 12, 14 on the game board 10, there is some connection therebetween. For example, stairs 22 may be provided to connect the floorplans 12, 14 as illustrated in FIG. 2.

The game board 10 can include a plurality of card placement areas 26, such as seven card placement areas. Resource cards 30, family cards 34 and win requirement cards 36 may be placed in the card placement areas 26. The function of the cards 30, 34, 36 are described below with respect to the exemplary rules.

The game board 10 can include a warehouse area 24 for storing tokens, such as medium tokens, as described in the exemplary rules below. The game board 10 can further provide pictorial representations 48 of select rules.

The board game can also include a pair of standard six-sided dice 28 and a twelve-sided die 32 having different indicia on each face, such as the numbers 1 through 12. The board game can also include a set of resource roll tokens 40 for each of the floorplans 12, 14 present on the game board 10. Each resource roll token 40 in the set of resource roll tokens have indicia, such as the numbers 3 through 11.

The board game can also include one or more sets of resource tokens 42. The total number of resource tokens 42 can be the same as the number of departments 16 on all of the floorplans 12, 14. Thus, one resource token 42 can be placed in each department 16. In the embodiment shown in the Figures, there are five distinct resource tokens 42 and ten departments 16 on each floorplan 12, 14, and two such floorplans 12, 14. Thus, two sets of the five distinct resource tokens 42 can be used for each floorplan 12, 14.

The board game can also include small tokens 38 (referred to as SMÅ DALA in the exemplary rules below), medium tokens 44 (referred to as MELLAN DALA in the exemplary rules below) and large tokens 46 (referred to as Gyllene Hast, or large dala in the exemplary rules below). There may be sets of tokens 38, 44, 46 for each player, distinguished by color, for example. In the embodiment shown in the Figures, up to four players may participate and there is room in the warehouse area 24 for red, black, blue and green medium tokens 44. In the embodiment shown in the Figures, the tokens are horse-like in shape. It should be understood that various shapes may be used for the tokens, provided that there are small, medium and large tokens available for each player. In some embodiments, instead of color distinguishing the players, different shapes may be used for each player's tokens.

The board game, as shown in the Figures and as described in the rules below, may represent features related to an IKEA® store. It should be understood that various stores may be used with various floorplans related to such stores.

The rules below provide an exemplary method for playing the board game, including the use of the components described above. It should be understood that changes to these rules may be made within the scope of the present invention.

The rules may include an introduction, such as that provided below. The introduction may describe the store to which the game relates and an objective of the game.

Introduction

The world as we know it has ended. You and three other survivors have managed to cheat death between the walls of an IKEA. You quickly start to lose yourself. IKEA is love. IKEA is life. IKEA is your religion. Paper money has no value here. Your new society is based on equestrian military power and a resource barter system. The first player to build the Golden Dalahäst becomes ruler of IKEA and gets the meatballs.

The rules can include a plurality of general rules, as illustrated below.

General Rules

The playable board is divided into two, 10-room grids of IKEA departments. Players must compete to acquire these departments and build their resource wealth and military power.

The warehouse on the right side of the board is where players will construct their Mellan Dalas (Medium Dalas) and ultimately trade up to the Gyllene Hast (Large Dala) to get to the meatballs and win the game.

Each room will contain a randomly assigned resource token and corresponding resource roll token. The players who occupy rooms with numbers matching a resource roll will receive 1 of that resource (+1 resource for every Mellan Dala built). Resource will be one of the following: Trä (Wood), Metal (Metal), Plast (Plastic), Lax (Salmon) and Verktyg (Tool).

Players must trade in 1 of each resource and 5 Små Dalas to build a Mellan Dala. Each Mellan Dala built will award the player an +1 resource bonus when spaces they occupy are rolled.

After 3 Mellan Dalas have been built, players must acquire the remaining resources on their Gyllene Hast card to win the game.

Player turns are divided up into 4 phases: (1) Resource Roll; (2) Troop Additions; (3) Attack or Trade; and (4) Optional Troop Re-garrison.

The game can be set-up as illustrated below.

Set Up

Resource tokens and resource roll tokens are randomly distributed to the two 10-room boards. Each board should have two of each resource (ten total, one for each room), and 1 of each numbered resource roll token. Care should be taken to ensure there are not duplicate numbers on the same board aside from the permanent “7” spaces. The “7” spaces do not need a numbered resource roll token but do need to be assigned a resource token. Stair spaces are not able to be occupied and do not need either token.

All players draw a Gyllene Hast (win requirements card) card.

All players roll the 12-sided die (D12). The player with the highest number chooses the “7” space (department) they will start on. A SMÅ DALA (Small token) of their color is placed on that space. Moving clockwise, the remaining players will choose their starting spaces. All players must start on a “7” space. Once all players have selected their starting position, and placed their Små Dala, the player who picked first will start the game.

Player Game Turn

Phase One: Resource Roll

The player rolls the two 6-sided dice (D6s). Upon rolling a total of 3 through 11, any player occupying departments with a matching number (based on the resource roll token) may collect the resource matching the token of their territory (department). If territory is unoccupied, no player earns the resource.

IKEA® FAMILY CARD ROLL occurs if the roll is a 7 or doubles. In this case, the player draws an IKEA® Family Card. If a card is starred, it must be played immediately. If it is not, it may be banked for use at a later time. The family card may provide a benefit or a detriment for a player.

If a 2 or a 12 is rolled, and the player owns a Mellan Dala, they must send 1 Mellan Dala to Smaland (a “jail” location on the game board) for one turn. The player loses+1 resource bonus until their next turn.

Phase Two: Troop Additions

One SMÅ DALA is added to every occupied territory of the player. Players may not re-garrison at this stage of the turn.

Phase Three: Attack/Trade/do Nothing

Under an attack option, for attaching unclaimed departments, the following general rules can be followed: (1) Attackers must have at least two SMÅ DALAS on adjacent territory with a door or shortcut connecting them. See shortcut rules before use. (2) If a player has two SMÅ DALAS on the adjacent territory, they may attack with one. At least one SMÅ DALA must remain garrisoned on the attacking territory. (3) If a player has three or more SMÅ DALAS on the adjacent territory, they may attack with two or a maximum of three. With each additional SMÅDALA past the first, the player gains a +1 bonus on their roll. (4) If an attempt on an unoccupied territory fails, the player may not attempt to acquire it again until their next turn. However, they may attack another unoccupied territory from that same space or a different space if they meet the above criteria. (5) A player can only claim one unclaimed territory once per turn.

The rules for the attack of an unclaimed department include the following: (1) Attacking player rolls the D12. (2) If the number is greater than 4, the player conquers the unclaimed territory and moves the attacking DALAS to that territory. (3) If the number is 4 or less, the attack fails and the attacking DALAS are returned to the space where their attack originated. (4) If attacking with two or three SMÅ DALAS, the player can add +1 or +2 to their attack rolls respectively. (5) If attacking through the stairs or vents to another floor, the attacking player receives −1 to their attack roll.

For attacking an occupied department, the following are the general rules that can be followed: (1) Attackers must occupy an adjacent territory with a door or shortcut connecting them. See shortcut rules before use. (2) Attacking an occupied department requires a bit more military force. An attacking player must attack with a minimum of two SMÅ DALAS and a maximum of three SMÅ DALAS. The player can Gain +1 on their roll if attacking with three. (3) If attacking through the stairs or vents to another floor, the attacking player receives −1 to their attack roll. (4) Remember that one SMÅ DALA must always remain garrisoned on the attacker's space. If the player has two SMÅ DALAS, on their territory, they may not attack an adjacent occupied territory. (5) Attackers may attack occupied spaces as many times as they are willing or able. There is no limit to how many occupied spaces a player can attack or conquer in a single turn. (6) If an attacker removes all defending SMÅ DALAS, they conquer the space and move all the attacking SMÅ DALAS to occupy their new territory.

The rules for the attack of an occupied department include the following: (1) Both players roll the D12. (2) If the attacker rolls higher, the defending player loses 50% of their SMÅ DALAS (rounded down). (3) If the defending player rolls higher, the attacking player loses all but 1 of the horses they used to attack. (4) A tie goes to the defender.

Under a trade option, the following rules apply: (1) Players may opt to trade resources with another player to acquire resources they need. Players may only trade with resources and not IKEA® FAMILY CARDS or SMÅ DALAS. (2) Players may also use this phase of their turn to trade in for a MELLAN DALA. However, they may not trade resources with another player and trade in for a MELLAN DALA in the same turn. (3) Once a player has completed either of these trades, they are not able to attack during this turn. (4) An exception can apply so that a Player may trade 3 of any 1 type of resource in to draw a resource card of their choice. The traded in resources will be added back to the deck. A player may do this at any phase of their turn and may still attack or trade up to a MELLAN DALA in the same turn.

The final option is to do nothing, where play moves to phase 4, as described below.

Phase 4: Optional Troop Regarrison

Before ending their turn, a player may move any number of their troops from occupied territories to a single space of their choosing.

Players may only move troops from other occupied territories that are connected to the territory being defensively fortified. They need not be directly adjacent to the regarrisoning territory, but there should be an unbroken path between the supplying and receiving territories.

Endgame

The player who acquires the necessary components listed on their GYLLENHÄST CARD first gets to the meatballs and wins the game. Everyone knows that giant Dala horses are more structurally sound than ladders.

Short Cuts

The rules for short cuts can include the following: (1) Walls with a dashed line through them are shortcuts to other departments. (2) If a player wishes to use a shortcut, they must trade in three of the same resource. (3) Once a shortcut has been opened, the player may attack through that short cut as many times as they want during that turn. (4) After the turn ends, the player may not use the shortcut again without again paying three of a single resource type. (5) If a player holds an ALLEMANSRÄTTEN IKEA® Family card, they may pay three resources to attack through one of their shortcuts and emerge out of any other on either board. Once the card has been played, they may attack through the shortcut to one space as many times as they are willing and able.

Trade-Ins

The rules for trade-ins can include the following: (1) If a player is rich in resources but poor in military strength, they may trade three pairs of two of the same resource in for five SMÅ DALAS before their attack. This does NOT prohibit them from attacking in the same turn. (2) A player may trade-in three of any single resource type to draw one resource card of their choice. This does not prohibit a player from trading in for a MELLAN DALA in the same turn.

As described above, these rules provide an exemplary method for playing the game using the board game described above and may be modified within the scope of the present invention.

All the features disclosed in this specification, including any accompanying abstract and drawings, may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

Many alterations and modifications may be made by those having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, it must be understood that the illustrated embodiments have been set forth only for the purposes of examples and that they should not be taken as limiting the invention as defined by the following claims. For example, notwithstanding the fact that the elements of a claim are set forth below in a certain combination, it must be expressly understood that the invention includes other combinations of fewer, more or different ones of the disclosed elements.

The words used in this specification to describe the invention and its various embodiments are to be understood not only in the sense of their commonly defined meanings, but to include by special definition in this specification the generic structure, material or acts of which they represent a single species.

The definitions of the words or elements of the following claims are, therefore, defined in this specification to not only include the combination of elements which are literally set forth. In this sense it is therefore contemplated that an equivalent substitution of two or more elements may be made for any one of the elements in the claims below or that a single element may be substituted for two or more elements in a claim. Although elements may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, it is to be expressly understood that one or more elements from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination and that the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.

Insubstantial changes from the claimed subject matter as viewed by a person with ordinary skill in the art, now known or later devised, are expressly contemplated as being equivalently within the scope of the claims. Therefore, obvious substitutions now or later known to one with ordinary skill in the art are defined to be within the scope of the defined elements.

The claims are thus to be understood to include what is specifically illustrated and described above, what is conceptually equivalent, what can be obviously substituted and also what incorporates the essential idea of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A board game comprising: a game board having at least one floorplan defining a plurality of departments connected by at least one of a door or a short cut; a plurality of sets of small tokens, each set distinguishable for each of a plurality of players; a plurality of sets of medium tokens, each set distinguishable for each of the plurality of players; a plurality of large tokens, at least one of each of the plurality of large tokens distinguishable for each of the plurality of players; a plurality of resource roll tokens sequentially numbered from 3 through 11; a pair of six-sided dice; a plurality of resource tokens representing a plurality of resources; and a set of cards for each of the plurality of resources.
 2. The board game according to claim 1, further comprising a multi-sided die.
 3. The board game according to claim 2, wherein the multi-sided die is a 12-sided die with faces numbered from 1 to
 12. 4. The board game according to claim 1, wherein the game board includes two floorplans interconnected by a stair icon in each of the two floorplans.
 5. The board game according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of departments includes from 8 to 15 departments on each of the at least one floorplan.
 6. The board game according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of resources includes wood, metal, plastic, food, and a tool.
 7. The board game according to claim 1, wherein a number of distinct ones of the plurality of resource tokens is one-half a number of departments in each of the at least one floorplan.
 8. The board game according to claim 1, further comprising a second set of cards providing a player benefit or a player detriment.
 9. The board game according to claim 1, further comprising a second set of cards, each describing a set of requirements for a player to win.
 10. The board game according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of sets of small tokens, the plurality of sets of medium tokens and the plurality of large tokens are horse-shaped.
 11. A board game comprising: a game board having two floorplan defining a plurality of distinct departments connected by at least one of a door, a short cut or a staircase; a plurality of sets of small tokens, each set having a distinguishing color; a plurality of sets of medium tokens, each set having the distinguishing color; a plurality of large tokens, at least one of each of the plurality of large tokens having the distinguishing color; a plurality of resource roll tokens sequentially numbered from 3 through 11; a pair of six-sided dice; a multi-sided die; a plurality of resource tokens representing a plurality of resources; and a set of cards for each of the plurality of resources.
 12. The board game according to claim 11, wherein the multi-sided die is a 12-sided die with faces numbered from 1 to
 12. 13. The board game according to claim 11, wherein the plurality of departments includes from 8 to 15 departments on each of the at least one floorplan.
 14. The board game according to claim 11, wherein the plurality of resources includes wood, metal, plastic, food, and a tool.
 15. The board game according to claim 11, wherein a number of distinct ones of the plurality of resource tokens is one-half a number of departments in each of the at least one floorplan.
 16. The board game according to claim 11, further comprising: a second set of cards providing a player benefit or a player detriment; and a third set of cards, each describing a set of requirements for a player to win.
 17. A method for setting up a board game comprising: opening a game board, the board game having a game board having two floorplan defining a plurality of distinct departments connected by at least one of a door, a short cut or a staircase, a plurality of sets of small tokens, a plurality of sets of medium tokens, a plurality of large tokens, a plurality of resource roll tokens sequentially numbered from 3 through 11, a plurality of resource tokens representing a plurality of resources, and a set of cards for each of the plurality of resources; placing one small token for each playing in a player start-designated department; placing one of the plurality of resource roll tokens in each of the departments, except the player start-designated department, of each of the two floorplans; placing one of the resource tokens in each of the departments of each of the floorplans; providing a multi-sided die for determining a starting player; and providing a pair of dice for player turn rolling.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the plurality of departments includes from 8 to 15 departments on each of the at least one floorplan.
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein a number of distinct ones of the plurality of resource tokens is one-half a number of departments in each of the at least one floorplan.
 20. The method of claim 17, further comprising: placing a second set of cards providing a player benefit or a player detriment on the game board; and placing a third set of cards, each describing a set of requirements for a player to win, on the game board. 